Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 19
Adventure Games
Adventure games are seldom a technological challenge to build, but what they lack
in technological challenges they make up for in creative ones. As the designer of an
adventure game, it's your job to bring not just a story but a world to life—a world in
which a story is taking place. Your talents at creating places, characters, plots, dia-
log, and puzzles will be tested as in no other genre. Because the adventure game is
not limited by flying or shooting or commanding troops in battle—indeed, it isn't
bound by any particular mode of interaction—it has the greatest potential for
creativity of any genre.
This chapter defines adventure games and covers the history and evolution of these
games from text-based to today's hybrids. We'll explore the features common to
adventure games and the gameplay mechanics that define the genre in depth. We'll
cover puzzle structure, game flow, dialog, and language, all of which form
integral parts of the adventure game. The chapter finishes with a discussion of the
art and user interface that is unique to this genre.
The thirst for adventure is the vent which Destiny offers; a war, a crusade, a gold mine, a
new country, speak to the imagination and offer swing and play to the confined powers.
—R
ALPH
W
ALDO
E
MERSON
, “B
OSTON
,”
IN
N
ATUR AL
H
ISTORY OF THE
I
NTELLECT
,
1893
The term
adventure game
is a bit misleading because a lot of games about being
adventurous aren't adventure games—and a lot of adventure games aren't about
adventures, at least in the fairy-tale sense of going forth to seek one's fortune. The
reason for the term is historical.
Adventure game
is really short for
Adventure-type
game
, meaning a game similar to the one named
Adventure
(sometimes referred to
as
Colossal Cave
). All adventure games are conceptual descendants of the original
Adventure
, although nowadays they include many features that
Adventure
lacked.
Adventure games are quite different from most other games on the market. An
adventure game isn't a competition or a simulation. An adventure game doesn't
offer a process to manage or an opponent to defeat through strategy and tactics.
Instead, an adventure game is an interactive story about a character whom the
player controls. This character is the player's avatar, but he's more than merely a
representative of the player. He is a fictional person in his own right, a protagonist,
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